Fading into the dark
by oncerSM
Summary: After getting whammied by a dangerous meta Barry begins to act differently. He never smiles anymore, never gets excited about anything and he now feels at if his whole life is leading up to be pointless. Now its up to Team Flash to save Barry before its too late. Set some point in season 3: Julian is part of team flash, Iris and Barry are engaged, and Caitlyn is not Killer Frost.
1. Chapter 1

"Cisco why do all the metas decide to rob banks?" Barry asked as he ran rapidly through the city in a rush of wind and lightning.

"I don't know man, cause they're idiots who think they can outrun the Flash" Cisco laughed through com system in Barry's ear.

"Luckily for them they're always wrong" Barry grinned.

"Lucky for you, you mean. I'd hate to be on the wrong end of your lighting toss" Cisco replied.

"Yeah...wait I'm here!" Barry yelled as he used all his strength to stop himself on the pavement. "Ok Cisco what am I dealing with?" He asked.

"You know I'm here too" Caitlyn's voice now spoke.

"Sorry Cait. Ok one of you, what...who am I dealing with?" He asked. Barry had been at CCPD trying to get through a particularly difficult case when his meta human alarm app went off and Julian promised to cover for him. He had instantly began running to the address that popped up on his phone when Cisco spoke into his ear piece, but he had never told him who/what he was trying to stop.

"Well...we don't exactly know" Caitlyn said awkwardly.

"The security feeds just show a masked hooded figure walking into the bank. His or her face was covered-"

"Nope" Cisco cut in. "It was definitely a man".

"Fine. It didn't show HIS face. He appeared to be holding a large black bag and witnesses outside the bank swore they heard gunshots. The police have been contacted but we knew you'd get there quicker. We don't even know if it's a meta to be honest" Caitlyn replied.

"Really guys? This is what you call me out of work for? The regular cops could've handled this. And I was almost at my lunch break" Barry said sadly. "Whatever I'm going in".

The bank was eerily quiet. Too quiet that Barry could clearly hear his own footsteps perfectly against the marble floor. Nothing looked broken in this place, it didn't even look like any fight had taken place. But that's when Barry walked into the main circular room of the bank and blood could be seen everywhere. About twenty bodies lay across the filthy and no longer sparkling marble. Each and everyone of them had a bullet in their head and as an experienced forensic scientist Barry could tell that they all must of died instantly from a wound like that.

Quickly Barry turned around looking for the shooter, the one who killed all of these people but their was no one there.

"Cisco" Barry said pressing the button on his coms. "Hey there's no meta here, but there are a ton of dead bodies and the police will be here any second I think I'm gonna go" but it occurred to him that he hadn't heard Cisco or Caitlyn since he walked in the bank.

"Running away so soon Flash?" A voice said behind. Barry quickly turned around. Here before him stood just as Caitlyn had described a man with a black hood and mask covering his entire face except his eyes which were a strangely bright blue.

"Who are you?" Barry asked.

"That doesn't matter. You know I could've gotten away a long time ago. I've already stolen all the gold I could've ever want in my life but I stayed, to meet you" the man said.

"You killed all these people why?"

"I haven't killed anyone" the man replied and he gestured his hand out towards all the dead bodies.

At first Barry thought this was just a sick joke when he realized something he hadn't seen before. All of the men and women that lay dead upon the floor had something in common and it wasn't the bullet hole in their skulls. It was the shotguns that were still held in their limp hands. They had all shot themselves.

"What?..." Barry said. Looking back up to the man who had began to walk straight towards the exit. Using his speed Barry ran in front of him, blocking his path.

"Wow you are persistent. Just always have to be the hero, don't you?" The hooded man asked. "Well this has been fun, but I look forward to being at your funeral. I'm sure it will be dreadful" then Barry felt himself being knocked back against the wall and the room temperature dropping to what felt like absolute zero. A great darkness washed over him, and Barry Allen felt no more.


	2. Chapter 2

**This chapter is a bit long for my usual fanfic standards but I couldn't stop writing I got so into it. Anyways I hope you guys enjoy and a bit of a warning it gets dark as you see Barry struggling with his depression.**

"Barry? Barry!" Iris said, as she sat next to her unconscious fiancé. Suddenly his eyes opened and he looked around wildly.

"Iris?"

"Hey, hey, calm down" Iris said putting a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"How'd I get here?" Barry asked.

"Your welcome" Cisco said walking into the med bay followed by Caitlyn. "When you weren't answering your coms I opened a portal into that bank. Man, that place did NOT look pretty. Twenty-one dead bodies all with a gun in their hand, you're gonna be busy" he told him.

"Joe?" Barry asked noticing his adoptive father's absence.

"At CCPD, the cops are going nuts trying to find this crazy-ass meta" Cisco said.

"And have you guys found anything on this guy?" Barry asked while standing up from the medical bed, although for some reason he didn't have much faith in his friends that they got any information. He felt off, a bit heavy as if something was holding him down.

"Nothing yet" Caitlyn said. "But Felicity is doing all she can to...Barry are you all right?" Caitlyn asked looking at the speedster skeptically, who she had just noticed had dark bags under his eyes.

"Fine" he said.

"Dude what happened to you in that bank?" Cisco asked.

"Whatever" Barry said straight out in a tone that was harsher then he'd normally use. "I'm going to go back to work" he then said exiting with a Flash of lighting.

"Ok I'm gonna say it, anyone else think Barry was acting a bit...weird?"

"I agree B.A. was acting a bit strange" HR added.

"Yeah, he didn't exactly look so good either" Iris added. "You don't think that the meta could've done some thing to Barry do you?"

"I hope not" Caitlyn said as they all were still staring at the place that Barry had just left.

When Barry entered CCPD he saw the whole place was full of movement, cops walking this way and that talking to each other rapidly. "Allen!" He heard a voice behind him. It was Captain Singh. "You took a bad day to get sick, we've got either a major suicide or major homicide and no leads. All the cameras from the bank were wiped clean. Get to your lab now and try to find anything you got to explain this" and the captain walked away leaving Barry standing still by the entrance to the police station.

Quickly he made his way upstairs to his lab where Julian was leaning over a very large stack of papers. "Barry? You're back, brilliant" he said, handing a few files.

"I was hoping you would have some information on this meta" Julian said dropping his voice to a whisper "inside information. It is a meta isn't it?" He asked.

"Yeah it is" Barry replied. "But we haven't got anything yet, the guy got away" and then Barry went to sit by his desk and began opening the files. Instantly a feeling of being overwhelmed swept over him which was abnormal because his speed usually made this kind of stuff easy. But now he felt as if, for some reason all of this was just too much work to handle and there was no way he'd ever get through any of this and then he'd get fired for not finishing any of his work, then never amount to anything in life. What the hell? Barry thought. He had never once felt like this while being a CSI and now he felt his eyes burning with tears, what was happening to him?

That night Iris was sitting in the loft waiting for Barry to come home from work. She'd been worried about him all day after the way he'd been acting at Star Labs. So when Iris heard all the locks click open on the apartment door she turned around and waited for her fiancé to come inside.

"Hey" Iris said as he walked through the door, and sat down across from her on the sofa. "How was working on the new case?" She asked trying to get him to talk.

"It doesn't matter" Barry responded.

"What doesn't matter, Bar? The case?" Iris asked confused but always worried, Barry was definitely not acting like himself.

"No, all of it! All of this!" Barry yelled jumping up from the couch. "It's just another meta, Iris!" He said angrily putting one hand on his forehead.

"Exactly Barry. That's why we'll beat him" she tried saying.

"And then what Iris?" Barry said suddenly switching his tone of voice and sitting back down as if he never got up.

"What do you mean?" Iris asked, now extremely worried.

"After we defeat this guy, another one will just come up and we'll have to stop him. It just keeps going like this again and again".

"Yes Barry, because that's what we do" Iris said, trying to stop his nervous break down. "We're team Flash. We stop the bad guys and save the city that's our job".

"But what's the point Iris, of this, of all this. Team Flash can't go on forever, and what will happen after that?" Barry asked and tears began escaping his eyes and falling down his reddened cheeks.

"Barry, after that we continue to live out our lives, together, like we're doing right now" Iris continued. She wanted to keep him talking to calm him down, long enough to call Caitlyn. She didn't know what was going on with him but he needed help.

"It'll all end eventually Iris, all of everything and all of us, so what's the point?" Barry asked her and honestly Iris felt her heart break. Barry had always been so optimistic and light hearted and the only time he'd ever sounded remotely like this was when his mom died and he'd come to live with her and her dad. But this was something different and Iris was worried.

The moment Barry went to sleep Iris ran to the bathroom with her cellphone and locked herself in. "Caitlyn" she whispered into the device. "It's Iris I need your help".

"Iris its past midnight" Caitlyn said sounding tired.

"It's about Barry, he wasn't acting like himself and I'm worried" Iris replied before listening to hear if Barry was awake.

"Wait, we should call Cisco" Caitlyn said and within a minute their friend had joined their conversation.

"You think he's been whammied by the Reaper?" Cisco asked.

"The Reaper?" Caitlyn said.

"Killed like what Twenty-one people by making them all commit suicide, I thought it had a good ring to it" Cisco replied sounding offended.

"I think he did something to Barry" Iris told them.

"Maybe that's why I found him unconscious? He wouldn't tell us what happened with him" Cisco said.

"That also would explain why that guy just left Barry alive, he probably just assumed Barry would kill himself just like the rest" Caitlyn said.

"But because of his slow metabolism the effects are hitting him slower" Cisco said.

"Oh God" Iris replied. "That means-"

"It'll just hit him harder" Cisco continued.

"Like rainbow raider" Caitlyn finished. "Iris you said that he'd been acting strange?"

"He basically had a nervous breakdown telling me that we're all gonna end up dead eventually".

"Barry said that? Ok we're really in trouble" Cisco said.

"So what should I do?" Iris asked.

"Keep an eye on him" Caitlyn answered.

"Yeah and if he suddenly finds the need to jam a butter night into his eye during breakfast tomorrow then bring him to Star Labs" Cisco added.

"Cisco!" Iris said a bit too loudly and she looked nervously to the door in case Barry was listening.

"What? Just trying to keep things a bit more realistic" He replied. "Hold on guys, I need to go someone's trying to call me-" and then Cisco's line cut off.

"Iris just bring Barry to Star Labs tomorrow morning" Caitlyn said and then her line cut off as well. Iris then unlocked the bathroom door and was about to turn off her phone for the night when she felt it vibrating. With a click of her power button she saw that Cisco had sent a text.

FELICITY FOUND THE GUY. COME TO SL FIRST THING TOMORROW.

The next morning Barry looked even worse. The dark circles under his eyes only looked larger and darker like he hadn't actually slept last night. Iris found herself staring at him as he got dressed, putting back on the crumpled shirt he wore the day before and not even bothering to comb his hair so it remained messy.

Barry looked downright miserable as he look at the food that Iris had put out for breakfast.

"Bar, why aren't you eating?" Iris asked while taking a sip of her coffee.

"I don't know, I just don't want to" he replied sadly and Iris could see his eyes filling up with tears.

"Hey what's wrong?" She asked putting down her mug and hoping this wouldn't be another conversation like last night.

"I don't know Iris" Barry said. "I really don't know. I just feel so awful and I don't know why. It's like a can't make myself feel happy, I just can't" Barry said as a single tear slipped down his cheek.

"I think we should go over to Star Labs, Caitlyn can help-"

"No! She can't. There's nothing to help" Barry said.

"Bar, don't think like that. The metahuman you fought yesterday, we think he did something to you" Iris told him. And Barry thought to what he remembered when he was in the bank, dead bodies and everything going black.

"Iris what's happening to me?"

"Lets go find out".

It was difficult getting Barry to Star Labs, because he kept changing his mind about wanting to get out of their apartment. Iris had just grabbed her purse when she saw Barry on the couch looking up at the ceiling and him saying that he didn't think it was a good idea to go. Once they finally had gotten in the car Barry told her that they'd probably crash and die on the way there. His theories kept getting worse as she drove on and Iris didn't know what to do. And when Iris drove her blue car into the Star Labs parking lot Barry completely burst out into tears without explanation.

"Hey come on it's okay" she told him as they got out of the car.

"No it's not. Nothing is okay" he said sadly while following Iris inside.

As the two walked towards the cortex they heard voices coming inside arguing that sounded like HR and Cisco.

"We don't need a name for Team Flash. We are literally just called 'Team Flash'" Cisco said.

"I know, but would like a single word sound a bit better?" HR asked.

"Ok you only just joined the Team, stop trying to mess up our business- Hey Barry!" Cisco said as Iris and Barry walked into the Cortex.

"What's going on here?" Iris asked

"Well, HR here thinks our team needs a new name, which it doesn't" he said giving HR a look.

"It's just my opinion" He replied.

"Cisco, you said Felicity found something on the new meta?"

"The Reaper" Cisco filled in.

"Yes him, whatever" Iris replied.

"Charles Linden. The night of the particle accelerator explosion Charlie decided he wanted to jump off the Central City bridge to commit suicide. Police were called to the scene to try to convince him not to jump and when the explosion happened he was knocked over by the dark matter-"

"And he became a Metahuman" Iris finished.

"Yeah so he basically uses his powers to enter people's mind and make them so full of sadness and depression that they want to kill themselves. The dude doesn't even have to touch anyone to do it" Cisco said.

"And that's what he did to Barry?" Joe asked staring at his son that has been oddly quiet.

"Because of his powers, Barry will feel the affects on him slower. For a normal person the effects are immediate, they'll take any weapon they can find and bludgeon or stab themselves as quickly as they can because they're in so much pain. So when the Reaper brought a whole a bag of guns to the bank and he used his powers on everyone they must've been dead in minutes" Caitlyn said.

"So eventually that'll happen to Barry?" Iris asked.

"We don't know how soon that'll happen" Caitlyn said.

"Probably soon" Barry said from the corner of the room. "All I feel is-" but he stopped himself as if he couldn't find the right word.

"So this meta is like a dementor from Harry Potter. Cool! I mean not cool, sorry BA". HR said quickly.

"At least you guys have Harry Potter on your earth, that's cool" Cisco said.

"Yeah and you know what's weird? Our friend Julian Albert looks a lot like-" HR began rambling but Joe stopped him.

"Anyways Bar, I don't think you should come into work today" Joe said.

"Joe's right, we don't need you trying to grab a gun from one of the cops and shooting yourself" Cisco said.

"Barry, you ok with staying here?" Iris asked and Barry nodded though she could swear he was looking worse by the second.

"I'll see you later, after work okay?" And then she left, walking out with her father feeling instantly guilty for leaving him here in this state, but she had to remind herself that Caitlyn and Cisco were perfectly capable at keeping an eye on him.

"So Barry..." Cisco started. "You wanna train, maybe? It could keep you calm and plus we haven't tested your speed in a while it could be fun" he said hopefully, looking towards Caitlyn for assistance. She nodded.

"Yeah why not" she said.

"I don't really want to, guys. No offense but what's the point?" Barry asked. "I'll never get faster".

"Yeah okay this is what happens when you have a depressing meta affecting your brain" Cisco said.

"No ones affecting anything Cisco! This is me, saying the truth. My speeds never gonna change and that's it" Barry said folding his arms, though in the back of his mind something was telling him he was being unreasonable.

"Ok Barry, no training" Caitlyn said, her tone of voice noticeably kinder. "How about we play a board game?" She asked.

"Can I just sit here instead?" Barry asked. He didn't know why he was thinking like this, normally he loved trying to beat Caitlyn or Cisco at board games and he loved training with them but now? None of that interested him. It all seemed like pathetic ways to waste their lives.

"Barry?" Caitlyn asked, she looked worried.

"I'm fine" he said straight out.

"Are you-" Cisco started.

"I said I'm fine!" Barry cut him off.

"Ok, ok" Cisco said putting his hands up and backing away. "Come on Caitlyn, it seems like we're not wanted here. Let's go find HR see what he's up to" and the two of them left the cortex, leaving Barry sitting in one of the spinning chairs by the computers.

"You want us to lock him up?" Caitlyn asked as her and Cisco made their way back into the elevator after HR had tried to give them four cups of extra caffeinated coffee each and Cisco had suggested that they put Barry in the pipeline.

"For good measure" Cisco told her.

"I don't know Cisco it just doesn't feel right" Caitlyn said as she pressed the highest button in the elevator to take them back to the cortex.

"I'm just saying, he's obviously getting worse and eventually he's gonna-" Cisco stopped short. The door of the elevator had opened and both of them heard a loud clatter of metal coming from the cortex.

"Barry" Caitlyn said and the two ran to find heir friend. But Barry wasn't in the cortex, instead he was in the med bay trying to get into the locked glass cabinets that held medical supplies.

"Barry, hey what are you doing?!" Caitlyn asked while pulling him away from the cabinets with Cisco helping.

"I need to find a scalpel! Or knife or something!" Barry yelled as he tried breaking away from his friends grasps.

"Or how about we don't try to get hold of dangerous medical equipment?" Cisco suggested but it seemed Barry wasn't listening.

"Let go of me!" He yelled and surprisingly Cisco let go and quickly ran out of the med bay leaving Caitlyn alone still struggling with Barry.

"Barry, you don't want to do this" She said pulling him back.

"I need to, Cait" and then with his speed he moved forward quicker then lightning, slipping out of Caitlyn's hold. Then he shoved a vibrating hand into the glass cabinets causing them to shatter. Barry picked up a rather large piece of glass and began lowering to his wrists when Cisco shouted behind him.

"No!" He yelled and Barry collapsed unconscious with a tranquilizer dart sticking out his neck. Caitlyn turned to see Cisco throw the gun to the ground and look straight at her "It kinda feels like a right thing to do now, don't you think?"


	3. Chapter 3

"What happened?" Iris asked as she walked down the corridor that led to the pipeline. Cisco, Caitlyn and HR were both standing in front of one of the metahuman proof cells that now currently had Barry Allen unconscious and handcuffed.

"Well as I understand it miss West-" HR began.

"Dude, you weren't even there. You were running around on the speed track after overloading on caffeine" Cisco reminded him.

"Yes but you two kindly filled me in" HR replied.

"But that doesn't mean you know everything" Cisco said.

"Guys!" Iris yelled, silencing them both. "What happened to Barry?" She asked.

"Well, after he turned down our offer of training and playing board games we left to go find mr. caffeine addict over here" Cisco told her while pointing to HR who coincidentally had just taken sip of his extra extra large coffee.

"And when we came back we found Barry trying to break into my medical supplies" Caitlyn said. "If it weren't for Cisco's quick thinking he'd probably be dead right now" she finished.

"So you guys just put him in here?" Iris asked as she looked back to Barry.

"Well after whipping up a pair of power blocking handcuffs" Cisco said pointing to the metal chains around Barry's wrists that had a faint blue glow to them. "So if our speedster friend here wakes up he won't be able to run his hand through his chest".

"You guys are working on a plan to fix him, right?" Iris asked.

"Well, right now we're trying to keep him alive" Cisco said.

"The meta hasn't been seen since his first appearance at the bank" Caitlyn told her.

"The Reaper!" Cisco yelled. "What is the point of me giving these criminals awesome nicknames if no one bothers to use them?"

"Maybe, he's not coming back?" Caitlyn offered, ignoring Cisco's frustration.

"No I don't think so, he's too powerful. He would just rob one bank and be done, I think he's planning something" Iris said.

"I-" Caitlyn started but in that same moment a groan could be heard coming from the locked cell.

"Barry?" Iris asked, walking towards the cell. Barry's eyes snapped open and as he looked around at where he was saw his hands cuffed he began yelling.

"Let me out of here, I need to die!" He screamed, banging his body against the thick glass.

"Stop! Barry, please. You're in there for your own good" Iris pleaded with him.

"No. No, no, no. This needs to end, I want it to end" Barry begged as he dragged himself to the floor of the cell.

"We're gonna save you, you just to stay strong" Iris said as Cisco pressed the button to close the door to the cell, blocking them from his view.

"We need to find a way to end this, the right way. Before it's too late" Iris said and together they all headed back to the cortex.

"Where is my son? I want to see Barry!" Joe said as he walked hurriedly into the cortex. Iris had called him only minutes before about Barry's current condition and he had dropped everything at work to come as fast as he could.

"Calm down, Joe" Caitlyn said. "He's in the pipeline right now, handcuffed".

"Also knocked out, again" HR added. "Don't worry he can't hurt himself now" he said although that wasn't completely true and they all knew it. This was the third time in the past few hours that Barry had to be knocked unconscious because he kept finding knew ways to try to harm himself and each idea was worst then the next. And while that was going on the Team was busily trying to find a way to save Barry, but so far no luck. That was until Cisco walked into the cortex.

"I am a genius!" He announced loudly as he strode in, daring to even put a smile on his face as he did.

"What are you so happy about?" Iris asked.

"That is a great question. But I may have found a way to save Barry and end his suffering and no, I don't mean killing him ourselves" he said and Joe gave him a look.

"And what are you suggesting?" Joe asked.

"We do nothing" Cisco said and a very dramatic pause followed.

"Cisco did you just advise us to do absolutely nothing about Barry's current situation?" Caitlyn asked.

"Yes. Well not nothing, nothing. We still stay on suicide watch like we're doing now but only until, the effects wear off" he replied.

"So you're saying this death metahuman's power is not-"

"Eternal? Nope, at least I don't think so" Cisco said.

"You don't think so? So this is a guess?" Iris asked.

"A very likely guess, yeah" Cisco said. "Think of it this way, a lot of times when you get sick you can take antibiotics yes, but then you basically have to suck it up and wait for the illness to pass. Most of the time you'll find the illness will even get worse before it's get better" he finished.

"Cisco that's genius" Caitlyn said nodding in approval.

"I'm sorry, I'm still not getting it" Joe said.

"The reason the meta's powers didn't affect Barry immediately was because of his fast metabolism and it ended up hitting him harder later. The meta's powers are like a virus that won't be able to survive in Barry's body so long because of the way his body heals so quickly. So like Cisco was trying to say, that if we could just keep Barry alive, his body will heal itself" Caitlyn finished.

"How long will it take?" Iris asked.

"It could be few hours, or a few days. We just need to keep Barry alive" Caitlyn said.

"That's gonna be a bit hard, look who's awake again" Cisco pointed to the computer monitor which had a live viewing of Barry inside his cell.

"I think we should take shifts, that way we always have someone near Barry. I'll be first" Iris said as she walked out of the cortex to the elevator.


	4. Chapter 4

**Yes, this is the second chapter that I'm posting today but I was too excited to wait, anyways enjoy!**

Barry wanted to die, but at the same time he didn't. Part of his mind was telling him to give up already while the other told him to keep fighting. And as he lay on the cold, hard floor of the cell that his friends locked him in while handcuffs he wondered what the point was for fighting. He needed to get out of these locks and run his hand through his chest, that would be the quickest way to do it. But he knew that there was no way to free himself and he'd have to find another way. He looked around him and all Barry saw were padded walls and glass. He had already tried running into the walls multiple times but all that did was tire him out. But what if he just used his head? Hitting his skull hard enough on the thick glass of the cell just might kill him. Well, Barry thought, might as well try.

He stood himself up but swayed a little on the spot from the three tranquilizer darts that Cisco had shot him with. Barry needed to die, everything around him was screaming, telling him to, his friends just didn't understand. Barry stood in front of the glass and could just see his reflection staring back, he looked as cold as Barry felt. Barry threw his head back slammed into as hard as he could into the wall. His head Immediately ached yet no blood could be seen, it wasn't hard enough. He tried again throwing his head harder onto the same place. Still wasn't working. Barry begun to try again when he heard the sound of gears turning and the glass panel of the cell was opening. No, they were going to try to stop him again, he had to end this now. Barry banged his head rapidly against the wall and finally he was seeing red etched on the padding.

"Barry stop!" Iris said running into the cell and using all her strength to pull him down.

"No! I need to do this!" He yelled just as he did with Caitlyn and Cisco.

"Please don't make me use this!" Iris said holding up a syringe with a sedative in it. It wouldn't knock him out completely like the tranquilizer but it would still make him too tired to do anything else. But it seemed as if Barry wasn't listening. Even with his hands tied behind his back he was still stronger then Iris and was able to stand back up where he had been before and continued his suicide attempt.

"I'm sorry Barry" Iris whispered as she plunged the syringe into her fiancé's back and he collapsed on top of her, still barely awake and unable to move.

"Kill me" He whispered, his eyes full of pain staring into her heart and soul.

"I can't" Iris replied softly as she moved her fingers through his dark messy hair while mindlessly humming a song that sounded too much like "running home to you".


	5. Chapter 5

While Iris stayed with Barry in the pipeline, the rest of Team Flash was working on a way to take down the Reaper. "Well obviously we use some power blocking handcuffs to lock the guy up but the question is how do we live long enough to take him down" Cisco said.

"What about ear plugs?" Joe suggested.

"No, it's not about his voice. It's about what he does to your mind so that won't work" Cisco replied.

"Wait Cisco, remember Grodd?" Caitlyn asked.

"Yes Caitlyn I do remember the huge telepathic gorilla that tried to kill as all, what about him?" He asked.

"When Barry fought him, down in that sewer, you made a device that would block out Grodd's mind control. Wouldn't that same device work now?" She asked.

"Cait, you may just be on to something. Hold on" and Cisco quickly ran out of the cortex but within a minute was back and he was holding a very familiar contraption.

"I may have to fix it up a bit, but I think this will work" Cisco said.

"So say it does work against this guy's powers, that's great and all but don't we have to find him first?" Joe asked as an alarm began blaring throughout the cortex, it was the metahuman alert app.

"Joe I don't think that's going to be a problem" Cisco said.

The alarm was still going off when a flash of yellow lighting came speeding in and Wally was there standing with his school knapsack still on his back. "I got an alert on my phone about a meta. Is this the same guy that attacked Barry?" He asked while dropping his bag to the floor.

"Yeah and it seems like he's about to rob another bank" Cisco said, looking towards the computer monitor.

"You want me to go after him?" Wally asked.

"No" Joe replied. "Wally you know what this guy did to Barry"

"But Joe, now we possibly have a way against him. This might be are only chance to lock this guy up before he kills more people" Cisco said.

"You have a way to block his powers?" Wally asked and Cisco held up the head piece.

"But we haven't tested it" Cisco replied.

"I guess we'll have to now" Wally replied as he flashed in and out of the room in less then five seconds and was back dressed in his yellow suit. Then he grabbed the device from Cisco's hands and put it on his head. "How does this work?" He asked.

"Like this" Cisco said as he pushed a button on the contraption and Wally could feel it vibrating. "It will in theory, block out whatever affect this meta has on people's brains"

"In theory?"

"Again, we haven't tested it" Cisco said and then he handed Wally something else. A pair of the meta handcuffs. "You get these on the Reaper and he'll be powerless. Bring him back here and we'll lock in the pipe line".

"Easy, I got this" Wally said and then he was gone.

"For his and Barry's sake, I hope this works" Joe said.

"Me too" Cisco replied.

This bank was much bigger then the last one, built right in the center of Central City. That also meant there was more people at risk and Wally hoped he would just get there before it's too late.

"Ok Wally you get there yet?" Cisco asked.

"Yeah Cisco" Wally said. "I'm here" he said and without waiting for a reply he entered the bank.


	6. Chapter 6

**This is sadly the second to last chapter of this story, but I hope you guys have enjoyed it as much as I've had writing it. Please read, review and enjoy!**

Barry felt like he had just been drenched in icy cold water. His eyes snapped open and began taking gasping for air as if he hadn't been able to breath for the longest time. His body was shaking and his head felt bruised. He looked around. Why was he in the pipeline with Iris? Why was he handcuffed? And why did his head hurt so much? Barry couldn't remember how he got there or what he'd been doing before he'd got there. And when he thought back, the last thing he actually did remember was...fighting a meta human.

"Iris" Barry muttered, she had fallen asleep leaning against one of the padded walls of the cell. "Iris" he said again and this time she moved.

"Barry?" Iris asked tiredly as her eyes fluttered open.

"What am I doing here?" He asked and Barry saw Iris giving him and questioning look. "What?" He asked.

"How are you feeling?" She asked nervously.

"Well, I mean my head feels like complete crap but I don't know about the rest of me" Barry replied honestly, when Iris through herself on to him, wrapping both her arms around Barry tightly.

"Oh thank God" she whispered.

"Iris I'm really confused" Barry said through her crushing hug.

"What do you remember" She asked.

"It's all a bit of a blur" Barry said.

"We have to tell the team your okay" Iris said standing up.

"Can you untie me first?" Barry asked holding up his chained hands.

"Of course" Iris almost laughed as she bent down and clicked a button on both handcuffs which unlocked and fell to the floor. Barry rubbed his wrists which felt raw and began to stand up and almost collapsed, the pain in his head now felt over whelming and he was dizzy.

"Barry, I think you might have a concussion" Iris said taking hold of his right arm. "Come on let's get to the cortex" she said as the two of the began walking out of the cell and up the hallway.

"Ok Wally you get there yet?" Cisco asked through communication system which he hoped wouldn't fail just like it had for Barry.

"Yeah Cisco" replied Wally through the speaker and Joe let out a sigh of relief. "I'm here".

"What are you doing?" Iris asked as she ran into the cortex followed by Barry who walked slowly after her.

"You let him out?" Cisco asked looking towards Barry.

"And you let Wally go after the Reaper? What were you thinking?" Iris asked.

"We were thinking" Cisco began "that we might as well end this once and for all. And what about Barry?" He asked.

"You were right, the affects wore off. But now I think Barry has a concussion from when he tried to, you know" Iris said as she turned back to Barry who had finally joined the group and was standing next to Joe.

"Come on, Barry" Caitlyn said. "Let's get to the med bay, and I'll take a look at you" she told him but he wasn't listening. Instead he was focused on the gun in Joe's holster. And before anyone could say anything Barry reached out and grabbed it in his hand.

"Barry no!" Caitlyn yelled as he pointed the gun to his chest and pulled the trigger.


	7. Chapter 7

The gun shot echoed throughout the whole entire building and almost instantly Barry collapsed to the floor, blood pouring out of his fresh wound. His eyes were opened and wide staring both at the gun in his hand and the hole in his chest.

"Why did I do that?" He murmured again and again, it was clear he was in shock. Caitlyn quickly bent down next to his body and shined a pen light in his eyes. "I need a stretcher, Cisco!" She yelled and the brunette quickly ran out to follow her request. The rest of team stood staring at Barry as if they couldn't quite believe their eyes. Joe leaned against the wall, his hand over his mouth. Iris fell to the floor next to Barry sobbing her eyes out and Julian and HR both didn't know how to react.

Cisco then came running back in with the stretcher and together he and Caitlyn lifted Barry's bloody form onto it at the same time that Wally came into the cortex with a big grin in his face.

"I did it! The Reaper is officially off the streets and-" that's when he saw Barry. "Oh my God".

"It's all my fault" Iris cried. "I should never have let him out".

"No Iris you didn't know" Cisco said as he and Caitlyn began wheeling Barry out to the med bay. The scarlet speedster was looking increasingly more pale as he was loosing too much blood, but yet he stayed awake.

"Caitlyn is he going to die?" Joe asked. "Please tell me he's not going to die, I can't lose my son".

"I know Joe" Caitlyn said.

"So tell me he's not going to die!" He begged.

For a moment Caitlyn was silent as she looked down at Barry and then her eyes widened.

"I don't know why I did that" Barry said deliriously as Caitlyn had to literally pull the gun out of Barry's tight grasp. "Cait, why did I do that. I didn't want to-" he went on.

"Joe, I think Barry might have saved his own life!" Caitlyn said quickly.

"He shot himself in the chest-" Joe began

"But not in the head. I think the meta's powers took one last hold on Barry, that's why he shot himself in the first place" Caitlyn told the group as Joe and Cisco lifted Barry onto the medical bed.

"So you think it's over? The Reaper's control over him is finished?" Joe asked.

"I think so" Caitlyn said as she held a pair of pliers to pull the bullet out of his chest.

Barry didn't wake up until the morning but Iris stayed with him the whole night until he did. "Hey" she whispered as Iris saw his eyes open.

"I'm sorry" Barry said.

"It wasn't your fault Barry" Iris said sadly. "It was mine" she told him.

"No, you didn't know, and neither did I" Barry said. "Iris, I never want to feel like that again. It was like my half my mind was telling me that I needed to grab that gun and shoot myself in the head" he said.

"But you shot yourself in the chest" Iris replied.

"That's because the other half of my brain didn't want to die and I guess fought back. You know, I don't remember much of what happened these last couple of days but I do remember how dark this meta made me feel. It was like my whole body was filled with such sadness that-"

"You didn't want to go on" Iris finished.

"Yeah. And when I woke up yesterday, in that cell next to you, even though I wasn't completely free, it felt like I was. Like I hadn't real breathed fresh air until then, and the darkness was mostly gone" Barry said.

"Mostly?" Iris asked.

"I think I realized that not all that darkness was from the Reaper"

"What do you mean?"

"After my father died and after Flashpoint I felt like I had all this guilt on me of what I did to everyone. And for a while I couldn't let that go. But you and Oliver and everyone else made me realize that the whole weight of the world doesn't have to be held up by my shoulders, I think having the meta's powers out of my head now make me see that even more" Barry finished and for the first time in days he smiled.

"What do you want to do now?" Iris asked.

"Now? Well first I think I need a good nights sleep, after that we still need to defeat Savitar but then I think we need to plan a wedding" He said and this time it was Iris who smiled.

"I'm glad you're back" she said.

"Me too" he replied and as they both leaned in for a kiss.

 **The end...maybe.**


End file.
